The BSA 2024 Annual Report
Ernest Bengough Ricketts, Bookplate of Alice E. Ricketts (1897). The Grolier Club.
As the BSA’s Executive Director, I am delighted to present to you the Society’s Annual Report for 2023-2024. This year has been one of growth, collaboration, and impact for the Bibliographical Society of America.
In what follows, you will find reports from our President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary that will keep you up-to-date on the big picture and health of organization. At the end of the Treasurer’s report, you will find links to our Auditor’s independent review and completed Form 990.
Following those words from our leadership, we are proud to share stories from BSA members: Events Funding recipient Kadin Henningsen, Pantzer Senior Fellow Claire M.L. Bourne, and Events Committee volunteer Colleen Barrett. We hope you will join us in celebrating their accomplishments and impact on the field.
Through your generosity, BSA continues to support scholarship, foster community, and expand access to bibliographical resources. Thank you for showing your commitment to the field by investing in the BSA!
–Erin McGuirl
President Kinohi Nishikawa
My term as BSA President has started off buoyed by genuine camaraderie and mutual support. The Society’s new website debuted to rave reviews in the spring. For bringing that project to fruition, I have my predecessor Caroline Duroselle-Melish and Executive Director Erin McGuirl to thank. This spring also saw a transition in PBSA leadership as Jonathan Senchyne was appointed Associate Editor of our field-leading journal. Jonathan has already begun working with Editor Sarah Werner to continue the journal’s success in broadening the scope of bibliographical inquiry. Throughout the year, the Council has done incredible work to advance BSA’s mission sensibly and sustainably. The Council gained a valued member this summer when I appointed Karin Wulf, a historian of early America and the Director of the John Carter Brown Library, as the Chair of the Publications Committee. Most importantly this year, I have gotten to know our membership better. From longtime supporters who are part of our Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society to junior scholars who have been gifted memberships through a kind donation from the Independent Online Booksellers Association, I have enjoyed each and every exchange with BSA members. As I look to my second year of service in this position, I hope to activate our greatest strength – our diverse membership – to help the Society grow and thrive.
Vice President Megan Peiser
Volunteer leaders who chair and serve on our committees perform most of the work of BSA. The events, prizes, fellowships, and financial stability that BSA celebrates are the children of our coming together to create this living, breathing organization that we love. This year our committees have overwhelmingly met their commitments to their work, and the ad hoc Equity Action Plan Review Committee, comprised of Jose Guerrero (Council Class of 2027), Elizabeth Ott (Council Class of 2026), and Magalí Rabasa (Council Class of 2027), has stepped up to audit BSA’s progress toward the goals we outlined in 2020.
Treasurer Patrick Olson
Thanks to the combined efforts of BSA’s Executive Director, Investments Committee, and Audit Committee, I am pleased to report that the organization stands on excellent financial footing. Those who follow the market will hardly be surprised to learn that the value of BSA’s investments, which provide critical long-term support for our mission, saw a double-digit increase during FY 2023–2024. While few expect such rosy returns in the next year, we’ve developed a budget that will boost BSA’s visibility, allow the Executive Director to focus on high-value work with the aid of a new assistant, and still keep our investment draw below 5% to preserve the endowment’s purchasing power.
Links to the independent auditor’s review of the Society’s financial statements will be posted as soon as they are available in early February 2025.
Secretary Meghan Constantinou
I am pleased to report that our membership remained strong in FY 2023–2024. At the end of the year, our numbers were as listed at right. That’s a decline of six members from the previous year. I find this a very encouraging sign of BSA’s ability to recruit and maintain new members, as well as provide ongoing value to our more seasoned members. We are grateful to all who initiated, renewed, or upgraded their membership this year. We are sad to report the death of BSA member Roland Folter on August 30, 2024. Roland was a long serving member of our society, a contributor to PBSA, and a rigorous scholar of bibliography. He was the author of numerous bibliographical works, including (with Bernard H. Breslauer) the groundbreaking Bibliography: Its History and Development (1984).
659
Total BSA members including:
121
Emerging members
346
Partner members
1
Latin American residents
86
Sustaining members
25
Leadership members
12
Advancing members
61
Lifetime members
7
Honorary members
BSA Strategic Pillars ↑
Vision
We broaden access to bibliographical community, resources, and scholarship. We expand traditional definitions of scholars and scholarship to include everyone engaged with and interested in bibliographical knowledge, no matter their background or professional identity.
Mission
The BSA supports the study of material texts in traditional and emerging formats, encompassing (for example) graphic, tactile, digital, and other formats and materials.
Goal
We build awareness of bibliographical scholarship and practice and its relevance to research, pedagogy, scholarship, and public humanities discourse.
Connector ↑
The community of BSA members, fellows, New Scholars, writers, speakers and presenters, and newsletter subscribers is the Society’s greatest strength. The Society serves its broad community when it facilitates connections between individuals and small groups.
4,178
subscribers to the BSA e-newsletter
784.2
hours watched on the BSA YouTube Channel
817
people registered for BSA-hosted events
46
articles, notes, reflections, and reviews published in PBSA
15
fellowships awarded to researchers from three countries
3
scholarships awarded to Rare Book School & American Antiquarian Society course attendees
John Garcia, Robert D. Montoya, and Deborah Kempe at the 2024 BSA Annual Meeting.
Dorothy Porter Wesley New Scholar Yolanda Mackey presenting her talk at the 2024 BSA Annual Meeting.
Cultivator ↑
We incubate new ideas around research, practice, and pedagogy in the field of bibliography. We foster traditional and innovative research, pedagogical resources, and event formats to engage with diverse audiences.
BSA’s Event Funding was an invaluable resource for being able to organize and host a three-day workshop on nineteenth and twentieth century bibliography taught by Elizabeth Ott. As an emerging scholar of nineteenth century American book history, I know first hand how challenging it is to find appropriate training in bibliography that can address the specific needs of working with the industrial book. BSA Event Funding allowed me to bring together a diverse group of scholars, librarians, conservators, folks in the book trade, and graduate students to learn together. Many of the participants have told me personally how valuable the workshop was and how they are now asking new and different questions about the materials they are working with.
— Kadin Henningsen, PhD Candidate in English at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Printer, Meanwhile Letterpress
Catalyst ↑
We spark growth and change in the field of bibliography. We value nimbleness and elasticity. We invite in people who work with a broad range of textual artifacts and nurture their work, adapting mindfully to the evolving needs of the field and its constituents.
Claire M. L. Bourne, Associate Professor of English, Penn State University
Thanks to the Katharine F. Pantzer Senior Fellowship, I spent a month in the UK to undertake research for my monograph-in-progress, Accidental Shakespeare. The book proposes a new editorial history of Shakespeare via the materials and labor of book-making. In addition to Trinity College Cambridge and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Archives, my fellowship took me to the Oxford University Press Archives to transcribe over 65,000 words of correspondence related to the unpublished old-spelling Shakespeare edition, edited by
R. B. McKerrow and Alice Walker. There I found a vast, unwieldy, and incomplete archive of an edition-in-process – a fascinating and infuriating record of book work that captures the flow and flux of editorial collaboration; the dynamic interplay between editorial principles and technological logistics; and the very real effects of financial compensation (or lack thereof) on the ability to edit at all. The research enabled by BSA support transformed my book and confirmed the extent to which decisions about materials, design, and labor have been implicated in the editorial method – I am extremely grateful.
— Claire M. L. Bourne, Associate Professor of English, Penn State University
Recognizing Our Volunteers ↑
We are so proud of our growing list of donors and volunteers. To all who made gifts of their time and treasure this year, thank you for supporting the BSA’s mission.
The Bibliographical Society of America is one of the best organizations with which I have had the privilege of volunteering. Their compassionate accountability approach means that all committees have reasonable workloads with specifically stated outcomes and goals. This approach clearly helps to attract the right kind of people for the work. By serving on the Events Committee, I have been fortunate enough to make new friends in the field while also contributing to the greater bibliographical ecosystem in a meaningful and manageable way that fits into my schedule.
— Colleen Barrett, Rare Books Librarian, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center, & BSA Events Committee Member
The Council and Officers
President
Kinohi Nishikawa, Princeton University
Vice President
Megan L. Peiser, Oakland University
Secretary
Meghan R. Constantinou, Simmons
University
Treasurer
Patrick Olson, Patrick Olson Rare Books
Audit Committee Chair
Joan Friedman, Urbana, IL
The Council
Megan L. Cook, Colby College
Mary Crawford, Stanford University
Jose Guerrero, Berkeley Public Library
Robert D. Montoya, UCLA School of Education and Information Studies & CalRBS
Andrew T. Nadell, San Francisco, CA
Elizabeth Ott, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Magalí Rabasa, Lewis & Clark College
Rebecca Romney, Type Punch Matrix
Alice Schreyer, Newberry Library
Emily Spunaugle, Oakland University
Kenneth Soehner, The Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Karin Wulf, Brown University
Delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies
Elizabeth Denlinger, New York Public
Library
The Role of the Council
A successful organization is characterized by the diverse talents of its leadership, with each individual giving to the Society according to their strengths. With that in mind, think of Council service in terms of three Ws: Work, Wisdom, and Wealth. Council members commit to at least two of the three “W’s” in fulfilling their responsibilities to the BSA.
Work may take several forms. Committee participation is an excellent way to fulfill this Council obligation. BSA Council members are expected not only to serve on at least one committee, but to take an active role within it. This might involve volunteering on special projects, making use of your network, or taking the lead on committee initiatives. Other forms of work may involve planning programs, advocating for the society to colleagues and friends, and fundraising.
Wisdom involves lending guidance based on your personal and professional expertise, as well as your unique perspective as an individual. Respectful and constructive commentary in the course of Council and committee meetings is strongly encouraged. Adaptability, foresight, responsiveness, and improvisation will be key to keeping bibliographical scholarship and BSA relevant as technologies emerge. We look to the expertise of our talented Council members to weigh in with their diverse perspectives.
Wealth involves making a financial commitment to the Society through personal giving, in-kind contribution, or the introduction of colleagues and friends who may be able to contribute financially to the Society. We expect 100% Council participation in the Annual Fund. A meaningful annual Council-level contribution is expected, but we recognize that some Council members are more able to contribute their work and wisdom. This being said, the BSA requests that each Council member contribute an amount that is personally significant to them each year.
PBSA Editors and the Advisory Board
Editors
Sarah Werner, Editor, Washington, DC
Jonathan Senchyne, Associate Editor, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Dylan Lewis, Managing Editor, University of Maryland
Advisory Board
Alexander L. Ames, The Rosenbach Museum & Library
Hwisang Cho, Emory University
A. E. B. Coldiron, Florida State University
Megan Cook, Colby College
Brigitte Fielder, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Emily Friedman, Auburn University
Alan Galey, University of Toronto
Alex Hidalgo, Texas Christian University
Joseph Howley, Columbia University
Carl Robert Keyes, Assumption University
Evyn Kropf, University of Michigan
Zachary Lesser, University of Pennsylvania
Deidre Lynch, Harvard University
Kinohi Nishikawa, Princeton University
Julie Park, The Pennsylvania State University
Leah Price, Rutgers University
Joran Proot, Cultura Fonds
Joseph Rezek, Boston University
Elizabeth Savage, University of London
Molly Schwartzburg, Harvard University
Curtis Small, University of Delaware
Adam Smyth, University of Oxford
Liza Strakhov, Marquette University
Amanda Watson, New York University
Kelly Wisecup, Northwestern University
Heather Wolfe, Folger Shakespeare Library
Volunteers on BSA Committees and Working Groups
Colleen Barrett
Rachel Bartgis
Barbara Bieck
James P. Blanco
Tad Boehmer
Mathieu D.S. Bouchard
Jolie Braun
Shira Buchsbaum
Kelly Bullard
Heather Cole
Finch Collins
Meghan R. Constantinou
Mary Crawford
Jamie Cumby
Sarah Cusk
Elizabeth Denlinger
Jeremy Dibbell
Clara Drummond
Caroline Duroselle-Melish
J. Eric Ensley
Joan M. Friedman
John Garcia
Cynthia Gibson
Jaime Groetsema
Jose Guerrero
Henrietta Hakes
Ann Hawkins
Laura E. Helton
Adam Hooks
Eileen Horansky
Valerie Hotchkiss
Gina Hurley
Leah Johanson
Emily Kader
Alvionne Karpinski
James Kelly
Mary Catherine Kinniburgh
Rhiannon Knol
Dylan Lewis
Lisa Maruca
John McQuillen
Leslie Morris
Jeanne-Marie Musto
Andrew Nadell
Douglas Nelson
Karla Nielsen
Patrick Olson
Elizabeth Ott
Kate Ozment
Philip Palmer
Julie Park
Ronald Patkus
Benjamin Pauley
Aaron Pratt
Charlotte Priddle
Agnieszka Rec
Gwendolyn Reese
Rebecca Romney
Jessica Salinas
Mark Samuels Lasner
Irina Savinetskaya
Hannelore Segers
Jonathan Senchyne
Kenneth Soehner
David Solo
Derrick Spires
Emily Spunaugle
Shannon Supple
Jasmine Sykes-Kunk
Nick Wilding
Matthew Wills
Friends of the BSA ↑
The BSA gratefully acknowledges the following individuals, foundations, and organizations for their financial support and in-kind contributions during fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024). Thank you for generously sustaining our mission to foster bibliographical scholarship and community.
Caroline Duroselle-Melish, Kinohi Nishikawa, and Lisa Unger Baskin at the 2024 BSA Annual Meeting.
$50 and under
Anonymous (10)
John Henry Adams
Martin Antonetti
Maria Barney
Erin Blake
Philip Blocklyn
Claire Bourne
Jolie Braun
Mary Brown
Kelly Bullard
John Chalmers
Stephen Clauser
Jean-Christophe Cloutier
Heather Cole
Lindsay DiCuirci
Molly Dotson
B. Williams Ellertson
Julie R. Enszer
Arthur Fournier
Mara Frazier
Amy Gabbert-Montag
Vincent Gaitley
David Gants
John Garcia
Thomas Goldwasser
Glenda Goodman
James Gray
Emiko Hastings
Regine Heberlein
Barbara Heritage
John Holberg
Sara Johnson
Bruce Jonson
Thomas Kenney
Laura Kitchings
Thomas Lannon
John Leger
Ronald Lieberman
Charlie Lovett
Malin Malineanu
Seyla Martayan Lan
Russell L. Martin III
Patricia Martinak
Bob McCamant
Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Leslie Morris
Michael Muilenberg
R. Nelsen
Naomi Nelson
Heather O’Donnell
Elizabeth Ott
Todd Pattison
Benjamin Pauley
Sylvia Petras
Mark Purcell
Magalí Rabasa
Cynthia Ragni
Gwendolyn Reese
Michael Sabin
Caroline Schimmel
Stephen Schmidt
Molly Schwatzburg
David Solo
Katherine Sorresso
David Spilman
Jasmine Sykes-Kunk
C.S. Tomashefsky
David Vander Meulen
Lilla Vekerdy
Robert Walls
Laura Wasowicz
Nick Wilding
Elizabeth Willingham
Alexandra Wingate
Kelly Wisecup
Elizabeth Witherell
Heather Wolfe
Frank Wood
Michael Zinman
Vic Zoschak Jr.
$51–$250
Anonymous (5)
William Allison Books, ABAA
Dee E. Andrews
Oscar Arce
Leslie Arthur
Virginia Bartow
Lucretia Baskin
McKey Berkman
John Bidwell
Lois Black
Stephanie Browner
Richard Cacchione
Clare Carroll
Jamie Cumby
Jeremy Dibbell
Martha Driver
Clara Drummond
Olga Duhl
Consuelo Dutschke
Hendrik Edelman
J. Eric Ensley
Eugene S. Flamm
Vincent Golden
Henrietta Hakes
Peter Hanff
Rare Book School
Anthony David Johnson
Emily Kader
Suzanne Karr Schmidt
University of Pennsylvania Press
Mary Catherine Kinniburgh
James Lawton
Deborah J. Leslie
Michelle Light
James Marrow
Jeffrey Marshall
Lisa Maruca
Bruce McKittrick Rare Books
Kirk Melnikoff
Jeanne-Marie Musto
Andrew Nadell
Douglas Nelson
Kinohi Nishikawa
John Overholt
Julie Park
Megan Peiser
Douglas Pfeiffer
Charlotte Priddle
Richard C. Ramer, Old & Rare Books
Marcia Reed
Michael Ryan
Mary Schlosser
Nina M. Schneider
Gail Schreiner
Garrett Scott
Frances Smith
Carolyn Smith
Derrick Spires
Emily Spunaugle
William P. Stoneman
Krista Stracka
Steve Tomashefsky
Heather Topcik
Kelly Wooten
David Zeidberg
$251–$1000
Anonymous (5)
James P. Blanco
Better Read Than Dead
Bluemango Rare Books
Bulls Head Rare Books
Gerald W. Cloud
Meghan R. Constantinou
Megan Cook
Mary & Bruce J. Crawford
Christie’s Books
Elizabeth Denlinger
Sophie Duncan
Caroline Duroselle-Melish
Margaret Ezell
Jacqueline Goldsby
Earle A. Havens
Jonathan Hope
R. Mark Jackson
Alan M. Klein
Jim Kuhn
Mark Samuels Lasner
Thomas Lecky
John McQuillen
Nina Musinsky
Maggs Bros.
McBride Rare Books
Alvin Patrick
James Periconi
Rebecca Romney
Royal Books
Justin G. Schiller
Daniel J. Slive
Irene Tichenor
Type Punch Matrix
The University of Chicago Press
Jackie Vossler
Sarah Werner
David J. Wolf
$1000–$10,000
The Estate of William P. Barlow
The Caxton Club
G. Scott Clemons
Joan Friedman
Cynthia Gibson
John Neal Hoover
Scott Jordan
Independent Online Booksellers Association
Patrick Olson Rare Books
The Pine Tree Foundation of New York
Alice Schreyer
Barbara A. Shailor
Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum
$10,000 & above
Lisa Unger Baskin
The Peck Stacpoole Foundation
Support the Annual Fund ↑
On October 1, 2024, the BSA started our new fiscal year. By making your annual contribution now, you help to set us on the right track for Bibliography Week and the new calendar year.
Become a Member ↑
When you join the BSA, you become part of a virtuous cycle within the wider bibliographical community. Members’ dues help the Society sustain its programs: employing a full-time Executive Director, main-taining the digital platforms – like our website, BibSite, newsletter, Zoom, and Kaleidoscope – that make the BSA’s programs accessible, and generally keeping the lights on. In turn, BSA nourishes members’ bibliographical practice through our programs and curated membership benefits.
Whatever your background or expertise, and wherever you are in your bibliographical journey, we invite your unique experience and perspective to our ranks.
Julie Park and Suzanne Karr Schmidt at the 2024 BSA Annual Meeting.
Jasmine Sykes-Kunk, Megan Peiser, and Erin McGuirl at the 2024 BSA Annual Meeting.